Good Life Nature Activity at the Florida Museum of Natural Historyby tony sperduto

Giant Ground Sloth

This exhibit of the giant ground sloth captured my attention right when I saw it. I instantly wanted to take a picture with it. I tried to imagine what it would look like in the wild, but my perception of sloths of our time could not get out of my head. I was very curious on how and where it lived so I read all the text about it. It lived in what is now Florida about 2 million years ago. It is actually related to the modern tree sloth but I do no think they look very similar.

Nature

Walking through the museum, there were many displays like the one above that lets the visitors experience these different ecosystems and explained the animals and plants that lived there as well as the importance it. I saw many other people not in Good Life taking pictures and being amazed by the nature exhibits. My favorite was the cavern part with stalactites and stalagmites that actually looked real. I understood my place in the environment and it is important to preserve our nature so we can experience it in real life.

Butterfly Garden

The butterfly garden is definitely the most beautiful place in the museum. Once inside, butterflies were flying all around us. They were so pretty with all the different colors. Walking around we ran into a very nice old women who told us all about the butterflies and the other animals that lived in the area. She showed us the koi fish in the pound. I felt like I was not doing a project, but on an adventure with friends. It made me forget about my daily life for a second and really be one with nature. My friends and I sat down on the bench and let the butterflies swarm around us.